


My Voice Drowned Out in the Thunder

by AeonTheDimensionalGirl



Series: I’ve Got You (You’re Safe Now) [24]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, BAMF Merlin (Merlin), Canon Era, Caring Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Deviates From Canon, First Kiss, Getting Together, How Do I Tag, Hurt Merlin (Merlin), Hurt/Comfort, Inspired by The Umbrella Academy, M/M, Major Character Injury, Mute Merlin (Merlin), Mutual Pining, Scared Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Scared Merlin (Merlin), Temporal Injury, Well- Sorta, Whumptober 2020, Worried Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), just a bit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2020-10-24
Packaged: 2021-03-09 06:08:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,486
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27179011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AeonTheDimensionalGirl/pseuds/AeonTheDimensionalGirl
Summary: Merlin’s best weapon is taken away after saving the King’s life.
Relationships: Merlin/Arthur, Merlin/Arthur Pendragon, Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Series: I’ve Got You (You’re Safe Now) [24]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1939345
Comments: 28
Kudos: 548





	My Voice Drowned Out in the Thunder

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Jaspy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jaspy/gifts).



> **PROMPT No 24. YOU’RE NOT MAKING ANY SENSE**  
>  **Forced Mutism** | Blindfolded | Sensory Deprivation
> 
>  **Ali** , this is dedicated to you because if you hadn’t introduced me to _The Umbrella Academy_ this fic wouldn’t have existed in the first place❤️ ( ~~Yes I know I need to finish watching S2😆~~ )

This isn’t how Merlin wanted his magic to be revealed.

He’d always envisioned telling Arthur when the time was right, by his own terms, when he felt ready.

Not like this.

Not in the midst of an assassination attempt.

But these assassins had been smart, smart and cautious enough to sneak inside the castle unnoticed before the feast for Arthur’s name-day began, and had gotten far enough that by the time Merlin noticed something was wrong in the party, it was too late.

All he saw was one dancer turning around at the same time the warlock caught a flicker of silver on the man’s hand-

And threw it to an unsuspecting Arthur.

Merlin didn’t hesitate to rise his hand and stop the dagger from embedding itself on his dear friend’s chest.

For a moment everything was silent.

The King, the attendees and the assassin all stared in shock to the floating knife and then to the revealed sorcerer.

“Merlin?” Arthur whispered with confusion and hurt.

Said warlock gave him a small, terrified look, but forced himself to focus on the assassin.

There would be time for yelling later.

The assassin, on the other hand, simply began to laugh.

“Well, that was unexpected” he said with amusement, “But thankfully I like plan Bs”

And with that said, the whole group of dancers unsheathed hidden swords and knifes, and the Knights of Camelot followed, more likely deciding that Merlin wasn’t the top priority to get rid of at the moment- And the fight began.

Merlin took the opportunity to call forth the dagger that had caused this whole mess in the first place and directed it with his magic to any of the multiple assassins that even attempted to approach Arthur, to the point that the blond turned to look at him with an incredulous look.

“At least let me kill one of them, Merlin!” he yelled with exasperation, his sword hanging uselessly in his hand. The warlock couldn’t help but laugh a bit-

And gasped when he saw a guard unsheathe a sword right behind the King, ready to strike with a dark smile.

“Arthur-!”

The blond managed to dodge by an inch.

Feeling a presence on his back, the warlock turned in time to avoid getting run through by the assassin who struck first.

“I don’t even know why you bother helping them” the man hissed as Merlin avoided another swing, “They’ll kill you once this is over”

The raven didn’t even bother to answer, instead settling to angrily mutter _“Ástríce”_ against the man, and watched with dark satisfaction how he was sent flying to the nearest column.

He didn’t get up again.

A grunt behind Merlin brought his attention away from the dead assassin, and the warlock was horrified to see that Arthur had been disarmed and the not-guard was aiming to the blond’s throat; the sword seconds away from slicing the King’s neck-

“ARTHUR-!”

Merlin managed to push Arthur out of the way-

And the world felt like it had stopped.

Merlin doesn’t think he’ll ever be able to describe the pain of the blade deeply cutting his throat, nor how his body promptly went into a numb state of shock.

For a moment, the warlock felt his magic snap with a tingle on the injured area-

He was faintly aware of himself immediately raising his hand towards the cut as he tasted the blood his mouth and feeling it soaking his fingers; how his legs gave out under him at the same time someone screamed-

_“MERLIN-!”_

_“NO!”_

When Merlin fell to the floor, everything had gone black.

* * *

Arthur watched, horrified, how the disguised assassin sliced Merlin’s neck.

His dear friend-

The sorcerer-

He’d taken Arthur’s place-

The King is not aware that he’s screaming Merlin’s name until he realizes that he’s fallen on his knees and gathered the fallen raven unto his arms, his hand trying to cover up the wound on his elegant neck-

“No-no, nononono-” Arthur murmurs with panic as Merlin continues to bleed out, face deathly pale as life leaves him, “Gods no, please- no!”

He never wanted this.

He never wanted Merlin dead.

He felt betrayed, yes, but _fuck_ -

Merlin lying at death’s door had never been an option-

Heaving as he attempted to keep his tears at bay, Arthur desperately searched for something, _anything_ that could indicate that Merlin wasn’t gone, that he hadn’t left Arthur-

And when the blond placed his wayward hand on the raven’s chest, he felt it.

“Oh gods” the King whispered before lifting his head and screaming, “GAIUS!”

“Arthur-” a voice, probably (definitely) Leon, began to say with a grim tone, “Sire-”

“There’s a pulse” Arthur cut the First Knight off with near desperation, “Faint, but it’s there. He’s alive!”

“Holy shit” Gwaine said as Gaius broke through the fallen bodies of the assassins and the Knights gathered around the King and the sorcerer.

The physician let out a gasp when he felt the faint pulse, and turn to look at Arthur with a somber expression.

“He won’t make it” he said.

The King pursed his lips, coming to a decision on the spot.

“Not without magic” Arthur replied, forcing himself to sound collected, even as Gaius inhaled sharply, “There will be no consequence, Gaius” he added, stressing, “For neither of you”

The Court Physician looked at him warily, and the blond realized with a pang that the old man did not believe him.

“I swear it” he vowed, feeling his eyes sting, “I swear it on my life, on Camelot- just- please Gaius, he’s nearly left us”

Gaius gave him one last indecipherable look, before nodding to himself and placing his hand on Merlin’s neck.

And his eyes glowed a dark yellow.

* * *

When Merlin woke up, the first thing to register was the pain around his neck.

He sat up, wheezing at the throbbing ache, his hands trying to claw at whatever the hell was constricting his throat-

“-lin!”

“-op!”

Hang on.

Arthur?

Gaius?

Feeling a pair of gentle hands on his shoulders while a different pair settled themselves on his chest and back, lightly pressing to guide his breathing, Merlin forced himself to calm down.

Blinking, the raven focused his vision, and found himself to be in his room, the King and the Court Physician staring at him with worry and relief.

Confused, Merlin opened his mouth, a dozen questions at the tip of his tongue-

And found the pain returning by a thousand, accompanied this time by the memories.

An attempt on the King’s life-

Magic revealed-

A sword fight-

Arthur in danger-

A sword to his neck-

By the time the flashback had ended, Merlin was in the mist of another panic attack, crying as he tried to crawl away from Arthur, who took him by the shoulders looking frightened-

“YOU’RE SAFE!” the blond shouted, shaking the raven lightly, “You hear me? You’re safe, you’re not in danger. I swear it Merlin”

The warlock hiccupped, wincing as his neck throbbed again, and looked at the men with confusion.

He was dying.

He was sure of it.

Nervously, Merlin tapped the base of his neck lightly before making a gesture indication for someone to please explain to him what happened.

“I found a small pulse on you” Arthur whispered, “You were bleeding out, and I panicked and tried to put pressure on your wound- and I found your pulse” he pursed his lips, looking slightly uncertain under Merlin’s gaping look.

Arthur-

Arthur had tried to save him?

“I begged Gaius to save you” the blond finally revealed. 

Shocked, the raven turned to his mentor, who nodded.

“And in the time it took you to wake up, I filled him in on all you’ve done, per Arthur’s request” Gaius added with a small smile.

Merlin jumped when he felt Arthur taking his hand in a gentle hold, surprised to see his King’s sapphire eyes bright with tears.

“I owe you a lot of apologies” Arthur said with a wobbly grin, “And the biggest, fattest thank you” he breathed in deeply, “So thank you, Merlin- Thank you so much, for everything”

If his throat didn’t hurt so much, Merlin would have chuckled.

So he opted with giving the King a shy nod of acceptance.

“There’s something else you need to know, my boy” his gran-uncle said, “About- about your recovery”

Feeling a stone of dread on his stomach as he registered the worried tone in the physician’s voice, the raven weakly gestured with his hand for him to continue.

“The wound on your neck was too deep” he began to explain, “It’s a miracle you did not die almost immediately, and I firmly suspect your magic had something to do with that”

 _‘But?’_ Merlin mouthed, clutching Arthur’s hand with nervousness.

“I did all I could- but- your voice-” Gaius hesitated, sharing a grim look with the King before turning to Merlin, “Your voice might be gone forever”

The warlock felt his breath hitch as the implications in his mentor’s words hit him.

No more talking.

No more humming absentmindedly.

No more singing.

No-

Merlin felt the tears fall.

His best weapon- the thing he liked most about himself-

Was lost.

Sunken by steel.

Drowned in blood.

The raven curls onto himself and sobs.

He does not care for the pain.

* * *

It takes Merlin a while to get used to not having a voice.

Arthur watches his progress with worry.

The raven tried to heal himself, but the results were futile and he remained speechless.

When the King asked him why it didn’t work, the sorce- warlock- Merlin was a _warlock_ \- wrote down on a piece of paper that a) he’s always been rubbish at healing magic, and b) he strangely feels some sort of block in his throat when he tried to cure himself.

“What do you mean?”

Merlin shrugged, looking lost.

But, things settle into a routine.

Merlin figures how to use his magic now that’s he’s mute, and Arthur is fascinated to discover how beautiful his magic is-

Especially his eyes.

The warlock’s azure eyes never turn a dark yellow, instead they brim with the most beautiful shade of gold the King was ever seen in his life.

Despite not knowing of Merlin’s magic before, Arthur never really had a problem reading him, so communicating between each other never proves to be an obstacle. It’s like the blond can hear the warlock without a problem, understands his silent mumbles and flaying hand gestures.

The rest of Camelot, however, is a different story.

Before the incident, Arthur already had some inkling that perhaps his Father’s laws about magic were completely unfair, and had even begun to make some rough drafts about a repeal of certain laws, like the death sentence.

He’d actually been planning to show it to Merlin before his name-day feast- but- well… that one was self-explanatory by this point.

The people of Camelot do not take very kindly to a sorcerer being spared, even if he saved the King’s life a dozen times.

Merlin is ostracized from everywhere he goes, to the point that one day he storms into Arthur’s chambers, face forlorn and azure eyes brimming with unfallen tears with a small note already in hand.

**Why haven’t you fired me already? Or banished me?**

… It’s all it reads.

With his heart on his throat and a rising anger at whoever told Merlin that he was worthless, the blond engulfs the sad warlock into his arms.

“Just because your voice is gone, and you’ve revealed to have magic all along-” Arthur began to say onto his ear, “Doesn’t mean that you’ve changed. You’re still Merlin, my sometimes clumsy manservant, my brave and idiotic dear friend” he gently broke the hug to stare at the raven, “And I could never banish you”

 _‘Why?’_ Merlin said with a small tilt to his head.

Arthur exhaled shakily, before steeling himself and gathering his courage.

Better to have all secrets out on the open now.

“Merlin, you-” he huffed slightly as he pressed their foreheads together, “You mean the world to me” he whispered with reverence, “I can’t stand the thought of you dying or leaving my side forever. Getting rid of you would be like getting rid of my heart” he confessed.

The raven had tears brimming in his eyes, and the blond carefully wiped away a stray drop with his thumb while Merlin let out a shaky exhale, closing his eyes for a brief moment as he placed his hands on the King’s cheeks.

 _‘You took the words out of my mouth’_ the warlock mouthed at him with a shy grin. The blond barked a laugh, and dared to press himself closer to the raven with a soft grin.

With some light hesitation, Merlin leaned in to press his lips on Arthur’s, who returned the kiss with enthusiasm, cradling the raven’s head as he felt a tingle going down his spine; and without doubt the King would dare to call it magic because having his beloved in his arms like this was enchanting.

When they broke apart for air, the warlock let out a small happy sigh as he nuzzled the blond for a brief moment, eyes tender.

“Arthur” Merlin whispered-

And both of them promptly stilled.

Dumbfounded, the King’s looked at the raven with wide eyes.

Had it been real?

“Did-” Arthur gulped, “Did you just-?”

Wordlessly, Merlin raised his hand to his throat, fingers lightly tapping on the scar the blade had left months ago, looking pale but hope starting to shine in his azure eyes-

“Arthur” he repeated, voice slightly raspy but _real_ , a slow smile of happiness forming on his face, “Arthur, I-”

“You can talk!” the King’s laughed, taking the raven back into his arms and spinning him in joy.

“I can talk!” Merlin confirmed with his own burst of delighted laughter, holding on tight to the blond, “I can talk again!”

“How?” Arthur asked, putting him down and cradling his beloved’s face, “I thought- your magic- and Gaius had said” he stammered.

Merlin shook his head, looking slightly nervous.

“I-” he bit his lips before clearing his throat, “I’m not sure, I- remember that I mentioned feeling some sort of block?”

Arthur nodded, feeling confused.

“When we kissed-” Merlin blushed adorably, “I swore I felt it go away”

“ _Mer_ lin” the blond began to say, feeling a smirk form on his lips, “Are meaning to tell me this was true love’s kiss?”

“…Maybe?” the raven kept on blushing as he glared at him, “Oh, wipe that look of your face, you prat!”

“No” Arthur whispered, leaning in until their noses touched, “You know why?”

“Why?”

“Because I love you”

Merlin chuckled, his pretty azure eyes amused.

“Why did I fall in love with a clotpole?” he asked to no one, smirking lightly.

Arthur simply laughed before leaning in and kissing him again.


End file.
